Tom Waits dug deep to find this one - and he dug all over the place. Visceral, vivid and jarring, 'Bone Machine' is a boisterous celebration of all things nocturnal. Unfolding like a bad dream, the album careens from track to track as Waits assumes roles varied roles: narrator, spectator, prophet, grim reaper. In "black wings," a sinister cowboy ballad, Waits is a wizened storyteller; in "in the colloseum," an ugly ode to carnage, he's an unabashed participant…….

After completing the famed "trilogy" that consists of SWORDFISHTROMBONES, RAIN DOGS, and FRANK'S WILD YEARS, Waits took his time following it up. At the time, it was hard to imagine what crazed, exotic sonic vistas Waits had left unexplored. Further proving the mettle of his artistry, Waits pulled a masterstroke on BONE MACHINE. Instead of trying to reach new heights, he effectively plumbed the depths, stripping his sound down to the bare essentials (hence the title). At times, he sounds like a cross between an even more avant-garde Captain Beefheart ("Such a Scream") and a hip caveman banging out a song on a row of tuned skulls ("Earth Died Screaming"). Despite all this willful primitivism though, his craftsmanship is at a peak, with his thoughtful lyricism shining throughout.

Night On Earth is a mostly instrumental recording from Tom Waits, and made for the movie with the same title by Jim Jarmusch. The songs are mostly in the vein of his foregoing four studio albums at that time (Swordfishtrombones through Bone Machine - particularly the latter album and Rain Dogs), in that they feature his typically quirky percussion and wind instrument soundscapes - his "junkyard orchestra."……..

Tom Waits, as usual, has produced another classic. It should be noted, however, that "Real Gone" is a really gritty, avant-garde effort. The sonic texture of the album is akin to some of the tunes on "Bone Machine" with a tinge of the sweaty grit of the more raucous parts of "Mule Variations" (e.g., the texture found on the rough and funky "Filipino Box Spring Hog"). If you are a fan of Waits' last few albums, you will enjoy "Real Gone." If what you enjoy about Waits' music is his piano playing, well, this is one you can skip–there is no piano whatsoever on this CD…….

Seven years passed between the release of Bone Machine and Mule Variations. During that time Tom Waits eschewed cutting another "conventional" (the term used loosely here) song collection, occupying his time with acting projects, a soundtrack (Night on Earth), a stage project (The Black Rider), and sundry smaller diversions…….

I am always impressed by Tom Waits' descriptive ability - the way he paints vignettes of people and places and moods. His early work on the Asylum label is generally more accessible than later stuff like Bone Machine and here the listener finds Waits in a gentle frame of mind on a tasty selection of mainly soft ballads and jazzy numbers like Blue Valentines and the duet I Never Talk To Strangers. I prefer his country style ballads so Tom Traubert's Blues (Waltzing Matilda) and Ruby's Arms are my favourites. This is a good introduction to his bluesy musical vision contained in that gravely voice and his evocative story songs.

Tom Waits, raconteur, poet, singer, pianist, writer, genius and one-man revivalist of a bygone world, in a 1978 concert from Austin, Texas. Hear the emerging star, strikingly young and self-assured in his compelling skid-row persona, as he takes us on a series of amazing journeys, at once comic and poignant, and full of the down-at-heels characters only Mr. Waits can bring to life. In songs like "On The Nickel," "I Wish I Was In New Orleans," "Romeo Is Bleeding," "Small Change" and others, Waits conjures up an entire universe all his own. One of the most idiosyncratic writers and performers is captured at an early moment in his amazing and influential career. Recorded Live on December 5, 1978 in Austin, Texas.